Orientalist scholarship was overwhelmingly dominated by Western scholars into the 1920s

Evidence

There is inequality in the treatment accorded to the three religions. Of the four chapters on Judaism, all are by Jews, two of them Rabbis. Of the nine chapters on Christianity, eight are by clerics, one—the most clerical of all—by a Christian layman. Of the nineteen chapters on Islam, only two or three are by Muslims, none of whom are professional men of religion. The remainder are by Western scholars, for whom Islam is an object of study, rather than a source of guidance. — Bernard Lewis, From Babel to Dragomans, 1309 (#corroborates, via linked claim)

By claiming that orientalism is “a Western style for dominating, restructuring, and having authority over the Orient,” Said turns his own imperious gaze on orientalist scholars. The result is that it is now they who become the undifferentiated mass. But they were most decidedly not this. Orientalists came from a host of nations, sometimes representing colonial interests, sometimes not, and were of different ethnic, religious, and political backgrounds. — Ivan Davidson Kalmar, Derek Penslar, Orientalism and the Jews, 375 (#contradicts, via linked claim)

Categorization

• corroborated: 2 independent passages support this claim
• XREF: connects to: Western scholars controlled the academic study of the Orient even as late as 1927.; Non-Western scholars initially welcomed Orientalist scholarship and used it readily — Bernard Lewis, From Babel to Dragomans: Interpreting…, 2071; Orientalist scholars were a diverse group spanning nations, religions, and politics — Ivan Davidson Kalmar, Derek Penslar, Orientalism and the Jews, 375 (+3 more)

Broader Connections

• Scholarly representation of Islam was dominated by Western outsiders #corroborates (0.85) — Bernard Lewis, From Babel to Dragomans, 1309
• Orientalist scholars were a diverse group spanning nations, religions, and politics #contradicts (0.75) — Ivan Davidson Kalmar, Derek Penslar, Orientalism and the Jews, 375
• Non-Western scholars initially welcomed Orientalist scholarship and used it readily #corroborates (0.72) — Bernard Lewis, From Babel to Dragomans, 2071
• Orientalist scholarship includes anti-imperialist activists, not only empire-serving scholars #qualifies (0.72)
• Orientalist scholarship was internally diverse and historically contingent, not monolithic #contradicts (0.72)